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Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!dalcs!aucs!paul
From: paul@aucs.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: More Mac prices
Message-ID: <476@aucs.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 25-Oct-87 07:19:25 EST
Article-I.D.: aucs.476
Posted: Sun Oct 25 07:19:25 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 26-Oct-87 07:20:27 EST
References: <201@pembina.UUCP> <460@aucs.UUCP> <249@dbase.UUCP>
Reply-To: paul@aucs.UUCP (Paul Steele)
Organization: School of Computer Science, Acadia Univ., Nova Scotia
Lines: 36

In article <249@dbase.UUCP> drc@dbase.UUCP (Dennis Cohen) writes:
>PCs aren't so much cheaper.  IBM products cost as much or more for comparable
>configurations.  The clones cost less and, while they are of benefit to the
>buying public, do not have the R&D costs associated with Apple and Big Blue.
>It is a *LOT* cheaper to put out a "knock-off" product ...

While I agree with Mr. Cohen in principle, I still strongly feel that the
price for Macintoshes in Canada is ridiculously high.  If Apple can offer
educational institutions a 40% discount (or more), they surely can lower
the basic price of a Mac and offer less of a educational discount.  I suspect
that very few Macs are sold at the list price, so why not bring it down to
a level where the ordinary end-user can afford one?  At $6150 Cdn, the MAC SE
is WAY overpriced.  If they were to offer it for half that amount, some of
us regular end-users could afford one.  It is difficult to say if halving
the price would double the sales, but it sure would increase significantly.
Apple would make less of a profit per machine, but you can bet they would
still be making a profit while increasing their user-base.  I know of no
one (other than myself) who has purchased a Mac with other than research
funds.  I tell them the price, and they go buy a PC-clone (IBM's prices are
too high as well).

Apple has done a good job in the macintosh design, but its not worth what
they're asking.  I wonder if Apple will ever consider their R&D costs paid
for and lower the price to a more realistic level.  If the high-price is
to make up for the development costs, why is Apple selling Hypercard for
virtually nothing?

Mr. Cohen is the only person who disagreed with my original posting.  Most
people were shocked at the prices for Macintoshes in Canada.  Its amazing
what an imaginary line between two countries can do to prices.


Paul H. Steele      USENET: {uunet|watmath|utai|garfield}!dalcs!aucs!Paul
Acadia University   BITNET: Paul@Acadia
Wolfville, NS
CANADA  B0P 1X0     (902) 542-2201x587